Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

Something old. The Bible.

Something new. I have a new Bible! A Westminster Reference Bible. A big one.

Something borrowed. I have borrowed several books lately, including an old Lutheran hymnbook in German, and the book Bruchko in German. I also brought home several cast-off books found beside the road. . .why do I do this? WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE BOOKS. But I can't resist. You never know what you'll find in a book.

Something blue. Just enough blue to be called blue. The Meditteranean Sea.

 

New Word

I ran across a new word today, a German word, in a non-German article, and I knew instantly what it meant.

judenrein - free of Jews.

Other German (ha-ha) words I have learned, Projekt, Computer, Konzert, Feedback, das Problem, and of course, Klicken Sie Hier.

BLUE SKIES

Israel has a serious shortage of thunderstorms. Sort of like Dallas, Texas, but worse. The skies are so blue today it's boring! But the good thing about blue sky and nice temperatures is that you can get a lot done.

But getting a lot done can get boring, too. It would be nice to go somewhere and do some plain ol' Nuttin.

But there'd have to be a pleasant place to do it, or a pleasant person to do it with.

Maybe, after I get some errands done, I'll take myself out for coffee. Or maybe I'll write some boring poetry, just to get out of the rut of studying German.

I am not depressed

For a while I was a bit hesitant to say this, in case it should turn out not to be true, but I think I can now say truthfully, "I am not depressed." !!! How did that happen??!!

For about 40 years, it was off and on, or mostly a wintertime problem. I had coping strategies that helped somewhat. I wrote deliberately gloomy poetry, which sometimes turned out to be really funny, which drove away the gloom. (Wish I could find the poem about falling into a puddle and the fish in the puddle thought I was a weird fish with red hair.) Depression made me very unproductive at times, but in general I could carry on with my life, though sometimes in a very mediocre fashion.

Since being in Israel, being separated from my family and having increasing trouble with my feet, I have had more "reason" to be depressed (not that depression has anything to do with reason). I have tried to get by by simply working really hard (mostly study). I became increasingly determined to make life worth living, and not let anyone accuse me of being lazy or somehow bringing it on myself. So I did everything twice as fast and twice as hard, as if that would make up somehow for not having children and grandchildren nearby. (It doesn't, believe me.) So added to depression problems, there were panic attacks and palpitations and messed up sleep and RLS and RL-everything.

In prayer I thought about how Abraham prayed, how David prayed (and Asaph and Heman and Teman), and how Job prayed, and I prayed like that and I did some really good praying, you might say, but also some very bad praying, (like Job I should repent in dust and ashes) and once I even prayed that I would die, and once I thought I was dying, but I didn't, and other times I simply didn't pray.

And increasingly for eight years, it kept getting worse and worse, and I was starting to wonder, "What if something happens?" Not that I would "do" anything, but anything could "happen," and I wasn't sure what, except that it was obviously way over my head and out of my control. It got more and more impossible to hide it. So finally I mentioned the problem to a few people and asked them to pray and almost right away everything started turning around.

Put HALLELUJAH right here with colored lights and musical instruments.

There have been a few bad days since then, but nothing like before. This is unexplainable. There is only one way to explain it:

Psalm 18:
¹⁶ He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷ He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

Scottish metrical:
16 And from above the Lord sent down, and took me from below;
From many waters he me drew, which would me overflow.
17 He me relieved from my strong foes, and such as did me hate:
Because he saw that they for me too strong were, and too great.

Now I am trying to figure out how to cope with the NEW situation. Now it is not so much determination that I have, but enthusiasm. How to direct it I don't know. It is a new adventure.

Every day is a new day.

More Caesarea

Another nice view of Caesarea. I think some of the white froth is caused by waves hitting lots of eroded building material from the ancient city.

Statice.

One of many headstones lying around. Glad I wasn't there when the columns under it fell down.

Books: Cloudy with a Chance of Mulberries

Today has been cloudy and cool. And it's mulberry season. Mulberries come in purple and white. I've seen several people helping themselves to mulberries that grow wild here and there.

I found Jungle Book translated into Hebrew. I don't remember if I liked it in English or not. After reading the first chapter I decided to try something else.

So I tried Bambi. I really liked it in English. I read it when I was a child and cried myself sick when Gobo died. I read it again as an adult and it was even better (and not quite as sad). But after reading the first chapter in Hebrew, I decided to try something else.

So I tried The Prince and the Pauper. After one chapter, I think it's going to be good. It's about the right level for me, with only six words on the first page that I had to look up.

I have not yet mastered all the vocabulary in Little Princess, Doctor Doolittle, and Black Beauty. It's sad to realize I will never catch up in Hebrew to where I want to be, and I don't even really need to. I'm trying to let it go, with just a little time each day reading various things, including the manuals to appliances--do not use ladder as a bridge, do not connect cable with wet hands, do not eat the ice you take out of the freezer when you defrost it; or instructions on food and medicine--store in a cool, dark place, out of the reach of children, away from moisture; or recipes--bring to boil, cook over low heat. I hate trying to read utility bills or the news.

Caesarea

 

 

Pretty nice place to visit.